Chapter 39: The future shown by Altra (3)

“Ah, Professor Anastasia?”

Dolores, the Carnelian housemaster, stammered as she watched me walk away.
The next moment, ha, her face lit up as if she had realized something, and she shouted loudly.

“Th-that’s right! Professor Anastasia is a warlock! White magic doesn’t work on the Magic Eater, but black magic might be a different story!”

At the assertion of the mystical zoology expert, all eyes turned to me at once.
Ignoring their burdensome gazes, I glared at the sloshing, rampaging apple jelly creature.

‘Altra’s experiment, the Magic Eater.’

I had learned about it from my damn parents when I was young.

In the heyday of witches, when necromancy was still flourishing and Altra’s protection extended to her descendants.
It was said to be the most heinous ultimate weapon, created to prevent any white mage from challenging the power of their bloodline.

‘And the fact that it’s green means…’

It was the highest-grade hunter, on which Altra had put the most effort among all the Magic Eaters.
Because among the colors of substances born from alchemy, the one that boasts the most evil perfection is not purple or red, but green.

‘Didn’t even the great magician of the first Hero party, Medea of the Ruby Lake, almost get defeated by a green Magic Eater?’

Let alone the junior magicians who were far inferior to her.

It was understandable that not only the board of directors’ members but also Forte, who had been active in the Flame Witch subjugation, were helpless.
Apart from the strength of their power, weren’t they facing an enemy that was the worst in terms of affinity?

However, that ‘affinity’ does not apply to me, at least.

I am a black mage who does not use white magic at all.
And I am even a direct descendant of Altra, who stands at its pinnacle, a bloodline of a witch who has mastered necromancy.

“G-good! This gives us a good chance of winning!”

Just then, Dolores turned to the assistant professors and shouted hurriedly.

“What are you dawdling for! Go and get the Saintess and Professor Bishop! If the three of them work together, it’s possible to defeat the Magic Eater…”

“No.”

I said firmly, putting a lollipop stick between my middle and ring fingers.

“I will face the Magic Eater alone. The rest of you, please focus on evacuation and crowd control.”

“What?!”

Professor Dolores’s jaw dropped in astonishment, to the point of being unsightly.
Then, Chairman Forte also helped Silvia up and argued back.

“Professor Anastasia, that’s absurd! No matter how strong you are, it’s dangerous to fight alone!”

“Th-the chairman is right! Apart from the fact that black magic works, the Magic Eater is a magical beast that continuously absorbs magic power and expands! The longer the fight goes on, the more disadvantageous it becomes!”

Dolores, who had come to her senses, also tried to dissuade me, spouting theories.

“Rather, cooperate with the Saintess and Professor Bishop! If the Saintess’s divine power and Professor Bishop’s knowledge are combined…”

“That’s why it’s even more impossible, Professor Dolores.”

But I replied without batting an eye.

The Magic Eater, making a disgusting gurgling sound and gradually growing in size.
I pointed to its soft surface and explained the reason.

“Now that it has grown to that extent, it can probably steal magic power just by having a magician nearby. So there’s no advantage in increasing the number of people. It will only result in it consuming magic power even faster.”

“B-but…”

“And Her Highness the Saintess is a distinguished guest who has come here to volunteer. We can’t just saddle her with the academy’s internal affairs instead of showing her convenience.”

I sneered at Chairman Forte with a sharp gaze.

“If we can’t deal with such a magical beast on our own, the prestige of Klomes will surely fall. Isn’t that right, Madam Chairman?”

When I threw her own words back at her, Forte just blushed and couldn’t even open her mouth.

In fact, immediately calling the Saintess would greatly damage the academy’s reputation.

If Antiopea had not been there, it would be admitting that they were incapable of dealing with it on their own.
And furthermore, it could result in expanding the influence of the Holy See over the Magic Tower and the academy.

Dolores and the assistant professors, who had been agitated by the appearance of the Magic Eater, seemed to have belatedly realized the political dilemma after I pointed it out.

“The Saintess is here to protect the students. Literally, she just has to protect the students.”

“…”

“And Professor Bishop has also already announced her retirement. It wouldn’t look good to call a retired professor as soon as a problem arises.”

Crunch, crunch. I crushed the raspberry granules and offered a compromise.

“So I will take care of it. As Professor Bishop’s successor and the only black mage on campus.”

Of course, although I said it in a grand way, I wasn’t just volunteering for a one-on-one duel out of school spirit.

The Magic Eater, which had been shaking its lump madly since earlier.

The noise, which sounded like just a slimy gurgling sound to others.
To me, who had taken on the shell of Altra, it sounded like something completely different.

• Altra! Ancient witch! Our great creator!

A bizarre, stuttering tone.
And a voice that was impossible to tell whether it was a man’s or a woman’s, a child’s or an adult’s.

The monster howled, mixing in parts of a chilling scream.

• I finally found it!! The key that Altra whispered!! The fragment of the revelation given by the witch!!

The Magic Eater tilted its large body towards me.
Then, it shouted loudly in a tone that was half-burning with ecstasy.

• The first button to unravel Altra’s long-cherished wish!! The noble sacrifice to be offered for the witch!!

“…”

Altra’s long-cherished wish. Since becoming a witch, I’ve been hearing that damn story over and over again.
But it was nonsense I had never encountered in my twenty-seven years of life.

I don’t know what its purpose was in infiltrating, but it had definitely found a trace of Altra in me.

‘I can’t let it come into contact with the Saintess.’

Antiopea was not only rich in magical knowledge but also had a sharp intuition.
She wouldn’t be able to understand the Magic Eater’s language, but what if she captured it alive for interrogation and dissected or researched it? I can’t let her get any hints about my true identity.

The showdown with that thing, and the aftermath, must be handled by me alone.

“Eve Vellam, and Bianca di Monferrato of Topaz?”

Eve, who was relieved to be alive, and Bianca, who was watching me with a somewhat strange look.
I said to the two women who had barely recovered.

“First, take refuge in a safe place with the chairman. And warn the other students not to approach this place. And Silvia?”

“Ah, yes! Professor!”

The purple-haired girl, looking up at me with anxious eyes.
Glancing at her, I opened my mouth in the calmest tone possible.

“I will talk to you later. After I’ve dealt with the magical beast, we’ll see each other in my office.”

“…Yes, Professor.”

The girl’s head suddenly dropped dejectedly.
She seemed sad at the thought of being scolded for blowing up the Coral Hall.

I was about to correct her that it wasn’t what I meant, but I just held back.
It made me sad, reminding me of my dead younger sister, but what was wrong was wrong. It was right for her to bear the appropriate guilt.

Guaaak-!!

“Ugh! Watch out!”

“It’s coming!”

At that moment, the Magic Eater roared fiercely and rushed towards us.
It instantly spread its body wide and tried to swallow all of us, including me, at once.

Of course, I had no intention of letting that happen.

Swish! Swish, swish!

Screech-?!

The suddenly bewildered monster screamed madly.

Countless black tentacles that had extended from my shadow.
They had instantly cut and sliced it into pieces like steak cubes.

Now that it had grown to that extent, white magic would be instantly absorbed just by touching its surface.
But black magic, which was not designed with affinity in mind, would be a different story.

Leaving everything aside, the black magic I use is a part of the necromancy that Altra herself created.
A strange mana, different in lineage from ordinary black magic, flows secretly within it.

So even if there is no physical damage…

‘It will hurt a lot.’

Screech-!! Kyaaak-!!

The enraged Magic Eater struggled and reabsorbed the sliced fragments.
The sensation of pain, which it had never felt before. It seemed to have angered it to the core.

“…As expected.”

‘Even though black magic works, it doesn’t actually get injured.’

Either way, the opponent was the ultimate experiment created by the witch Altra herself.
It seemed a bit much to completely defeat it with just the basic spell of Shadow Slash.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’

Even if it wasn’t Shadow Slash, I had plenty of other spells to try.

“Go away, everyone! You’ll only be a hindrance if you hang around!”

Spit, I shouted firmly, spitting out the candy that was just a stick.

Judging by its behavior patterns, it was a very cunning creature. It would only be annoying if a bystander was taken hostage.

“…Alright!”

The first to react was none other than Chairman Forte.
She grabbed Silvia’s arm and gave orders to those around her.

“Everyone, withdraw! We’ll leave the subjugation to Professor Anastasia and focus on crowd control! Move quickly, Professor Dolores!”

“Ah, yes!”

The Carnelian housemaster, who quickly took the assistant professors and returned the way they had come.
At the same time, Forte also took her daughter, the board members, Eve, and Bianca and fled from the scene.

If they lingered for even a second, it would only result in strengthening the magical beast’s power.
Whether it was a veteran’s experience, she seemed to know well that the right answer was to quickly vacate the area if they really wanted to help.

It was then.

Screech-!!

The Magic Eater, which had just finished regenerating, roared fiercely.
Then, it lifted a part of its lump high up, as if a person were raising their arm.

‘…Is it going to crush me with its power?’

It plays as recklessly as it looks.
As I was about to defend myself with a wry feeling.

Boom!

“…!!”

Breaking my expectation, it struck the asbestos floor of the broken Coral Hall with all its might.

No matter how liquid it was, since its volume had grown without limit, its weight must be tremendous.

Rumble-!!

Naturally, the ground, which had received a tremendous load, collapsed.
I fell with the Magic Eater into the space of the underground floor of the Coral Hall, which had not yet been buried.

“Professor-!!”

The sunlight and fresh air that were getting farther away as I fell rapidly.
Only the cry of Silvia, calling my name, could be heard faintly from above.

“Professor! Professor!!”

“No, Silvia! It’s dangerous!”

“Let go of me! The professor… Professor Anastasia!”

Pushing away Forte’s hand, Silvia desperately tried to go back to the Coral Hall.

Professor Anastasia, who had fallen due to an unexpected ambush.
She was so worried about her safety that she couldn’t bear it.

“Sob!”

‘Because of me… because of me!’

Silvia blamed herself, tears streaming down her face.
If she hadn’t come here, angry about the class cancellation, or if she had gone back to the main building as soon as she sensed something suspicious.

Then Professor Anastasia.
The teacher she had taken as a role model for the first time in her life would not have been cornered.

“Miss Silvia! Calm down!”

Just then, Eve grabbed Silvia’s shoulder and shouted resolutely.
She helped Forte and soothed Silvia’s anxiety.

“She’ll be fine! With the professor’s skills, she won’t get hurt even if she falls into a deep place!”

“B-but… but the Magic Eater is next to her…!”

“Trust her, Miss Silvia! You saw what the professor did earlier, didn’t you?”

Eve smiled, restraining her with a decisive voice.

“We just have to stay back and not interfere, as the professor said. She’ll defeat the magical beast and come back, so don’t worry. Okay?”

“Sob…”

At Eve’s confident declaration, Silvia just nodded and wiped away her tears.

Even if she went back, realistically, she wouldn’t be able to provide any help.
Although she was sad and scared, she felt in her bones that she had no choice but to follow Eve’s words.

And there were two women watching the two girls, with completely different thoughts.

‘Silvia… to that professor to this extent…’

Of course, one of them was Chairman Forte, who wanted to take her daughter to a safe place as soon as possible.

Watching her daughter sobbing because of the professor who was in danger.
And recalling Anastasia, who had volunteered to face the magical beast to save the students.

Forte began to think that she had greatly misunderstood the warlock in question.

And she even began to worry that she had made a decision that would be a terrible thing to her daughter.

And next to Forte, a woman who had completely different intentions.

‘I had a hunch at the Group A test site, but…’

It was none other than Bianca di Monferrato.

The large hole where the Magic Eater and the black mage professor had disappeared together.
Looking at it, Bianca secretly gave a bitter smile.

‘This is not something the boss can just ignore.’

To think she was that ridiculously strong.
She began to think that the ‘boss’s’ initial judgment might have been slightly off.

Rather, if he were to be discovered, she might be the biggest obstacle.

Bianca di Monferrato was a seasoned gambler who had inherited the blood of a shark and a piranha.
Naturally, her ability to read the situation was overwhelmingly superior to that of her peers.

“…If you really want to succeed.”

Bianca muttered quietly, activating her gambler’s sharp instinct.

Then, she called out the name of the ‘boss’ she served in her mind.

‘You’d better be more on your guard, Prince Ferdinand.’

“Reichu!”

A sneeze like that of a young girl.
Brushing off the dust that tickled my nose, I silently looked up at the collapsed ceiling.

‘Wow, I fell deep.’

Thanks to the sunlight pouring in from above, the surroundings were not dark.
Thanks to that, it was not difficult to secure a wide field of vision even in the underground space.

Gurgle-!!

I could immediately spot the green jelly that was moving right in front of me.

‘A very intelligent individual.’

I muttered to myself, frowning slightly.
Since it was difficult to approach with a frontal attack, to think of using the terrain to exploit a weakness.

As I was marveling at how smart it was for a creature with no brain or organs.

• Ah, Altra! Altraa-!!

The Magic Eater shuddered again and spouted the name of my annoying ancestor.

• The fragment that Altra mentioned! The burnt offering foretold in the revelation! The key to unravel the long-cherished wish!!

I had no idea what it was talking about.
It was just spewing a meaningless combination of letters in a rapid-fire manner, without any coherence or logic.

Of course, no matter how much it talked about the witch, one thing was certain.

• So I will kill you!!

At least, it was by no means friendly towards me, her descendant.

• As the witch wishes! I will devour and absorb you! I will snatch the key! I will open the door for her!!

“Stop your babbling.”

I sighed deeply, frowning.
My ancestor has a unique taste. To think she would make such a talkative monster her subordinate.

Just then, the monster, which had finished recovering, roared.
Then, it rushed at me with a ferocious momentum to devour me.

• I will kill you!!

‘Its intentions are obvious.’

A thought as I looked at the Magic Eater rushing towards me without a second thought.

It must be believing that no matter what magic I use, I won’t be able to deal any effective damage.
So instead of using cunning tricks, it’s trying to gradually drain my strength with a simple frontal assault.

A human magician with a limited mana capacity versus a magical beast that can endlessly absorb magic power.

Anyone could see how that would end.

At first glance, it seemed like a simple and effective strategy, but…

‘Not against me.’

I calmly declared and extended my right arm towards the monster rushing towards me.

Swish!

Gurgle-?!

Then, the tentacles that shot out from my shadow densely surrounded it.
Then, as if forming a hard cocoon, it trapped it in a prison with no room to leak even a drop of water.

The method was similar to when I had neutralized Silvia’s explosion spell, but the scale was several times larger.

“I’m telling you this just in case, but you can’t break that.”

Slap, slap, I said nonchalantly, feeling it struggle desperately.

“The strength is not on an ordinary level. Will you understand if I say it will be fine even if you set off a maximum-output explosion spell from the inside?”

Gurgle! Gurgle!

The gurgling sound of the Magic Eater struggling inside the shadow cocoon.
Then, a single word it shouted echoed.

“That’s good, then.”

Tsk, I clicked my tongue lightly and nodded.

“There’s plenty, so eat your fill.”

• I will eat you! I will kill you! The mission given to me by Altra! I will definitely complete it!

A boastful cry, as if in response.

Then, it slowly began to suck my magic power from the shadow tentacles that enveloped it.
Suck, suck, it was an unpleasant sensation like blood being drawn by a small needle, and it made me feel nauseous.

• I’m getting bigger! I’m eating magic power! I’m growing into a bigger body!

The monster shouted, snatching away my mana like a hungry mosquito.

• We are Altra’s creations! Shadow tentacles, no matter how strong they are, don’t matter! Human magicians! We will absorb all their magic power and make them collapse!

“Go ahead.”

I replied with a light yawn.
From now on, all I had to do was stand still and wait for a bite.

How many minutes had passed like that?

Gurgle?!

Suddenly, a bewildered movement was transmitted from the shadow prison.

The Magic Eater, which had been greedily swallowing my magic power like a vampire sucking blood.
It was horrified, its voice trembling.

• H-how! It’s not running out! No matter how much I eat, it’s endless…!

“Isn’t that even better? It means there’s an infinite supply of food. Don’t be shy and eat your fill.”

• I-I can’t eat anymore! I can’t get out of this prison, but my body keeps expanding! If I eat any more mana now…!

“Hey.”

At that moment, I casually flicked my right index finger.
In response to my movement, the shadow prison that held the Magic Eater shook once.

And the next moment.

• Kuh-euk-?!

The Magic Eater let out a pained scream and struggled.
Flapping like a freshly caught fish, it began to go crazy to stop absorbing magic power.

But no matter how much it struggled, it would be impossible.

This time, I was the one who had stuck the needle in and was forcefully injecting magic power.

• St-stop-!!

Stop, my ass.

A hideous monster that mercilessly took lives, yet was so weak in the face of its own suffering.
I narrowed my eyes, glaring at the cocoon that contained it.

Then, I coldly spat out the words I had wanted to say for a long time.

“Shut up and keep eating.”